On the heels of releasing a wave of screenshots and information about their latest creation, Square has pushed back the Japanese release date of Final Fantasy X to July 2001. Previously planned for early spring release, the game was delayed, according to Square, to "...elevate the title's quality to an even higher level and fully realize some great features that will push the envelope on [what the] Playstation 2 is capable of." The public relations department went on to say "We are currently making every available effort to get Final Fantasy X into the hands of gamers by July this year."

This news comes as a bit of a surprise, although given the radical changes currently being made to the series, perhaps a longer period of development is to be expected. No word has yet been given on how this affects the scheduled North American release for
Final Fantasy X, but as it was simply scheduled for 2001 release anyway, that goal may yet be achieved.